As part of my desire to live a more sustainable lifestyle, I've decided to trial something I've heard about ages ago and just stumbled across again recently.
So what is this experiment you ask?
Simply no shampoo and no conditioner to wash my hair for a month. Instead I'll be using a solution of 1 tbsp bicarb soda to 1 cup of warm water followed by a rinse of 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar to 1 cup of warm water.
Sounds a bit extreme, doesn't it? Very hippy-comune-ish, yes?
Well, I'll see. Plenty of people swear by it, not just for the environmental benefits but also because they've found that their hair is in much better condition since making the switch. I'm mainly doing it for the benefit to the environment, but if I happen to get better hair out of it, that'd be a nice bonus. And frankly my hair has been in pretty awful condition recently (using regular shampoo and conditioner) - either greasy or dry and frizzy - so it probably can't get much worse, right?
- The benefits -
1. No plastic
Instead of buying shampoo and conditioner in plastic containers, I'll be buying bi-carb soda (compostable cardboard box) and apple cider vinegar (glass bottle). If you didn't already know that glass can be recycled hundreds of times whereas plastic is typically downcycled once only, go watch the excellent movie Bag it!. Seriously go watch it, even if you do know that.
2. Less total packaging waste (in theory)
In theory the containers of bi-carb and vinegar should last me a lot longer than shampoo and conditioner normally does, which means less packaging bought in total.
I say "in theory" because I don't actually know how much I'll be going through (apparently you may need more than 1 cup for long hair, but you may not). Also I can't remember how often I used to have to buy shampoo and conditioner. Perhaps I'll ask mum how long it takes her to go through them for comparison purposes.
3. No chemicals being washed down the drain and into our waterways.
Shampoo and conditioner typically contain a lot of chemicals which are not particularly good for us or the environment (particularly SLS and SLFS - sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium laureth sulfate - the ingredients that create the lather). Okay so they're probably not completely terrible for you and the environment, but still it'd be better to avoid them. For more information about what's so bad about shampoo go to this great post by Livejournal user babyslime.
4. Save money
A box of bicarb and a bottle of apple cider vinegar cost about half as much as a bottle of shampoo and conditioner. And as mentioned above should last me longer.
5. No chemicals on my body
See 3. I haven't noticed any sensitivity to the ingredients of shampoos and conditioners but still.
6. Better hair (supposedly)
I've only just started so I can't comment on this one but heaps of people say their hair is better after switching. I'll let you know.
Apparently you (and your hair) don't end up smelling like vinegar either.
- Day 1 -
I washed with the bicarb and water solution today. Didn't rinse with the vinegar solution, because we didn't go to the shop until after I'd washed my hair. My hair was particularly manky/greasy before washing because I hadn't washed it for longer than usual, and I'd rinsed in water only yesterday - as per the recommendation to give your hair a little break between regular shampoo and this routine.
So far I can report that the top front part of my hair seems to be at least as good as washing with regular shampoo and conditioner. The bottom half of my hair feels a bit greasy still, and the back (around the nape of my neck) feels very greasy. I don't know if I didn't distribute the solution through my hair very well, or if this just part of the adaption process.
Apparently some people's hair takes a few weeks to adapt, others notice an improvement straight away.
I plan to continue this for a month and see how it goes. I intend to report back regularly, but I often intend to write more in my blog than I normally do. But if it does work for me, you can bet I'll be telling people about it somehow...
For more infomation on the why and how of going shampoo free, these are the two main websites I got my information from: (they're also linked in the text above)
http://myplasticfreelife.com/2008/06/no-more-poo/
http://babyslime.livejournal.com/174054.html
